I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to equipment for compacting waste material, and more particularly to the design of a trash compactor for use in fast food restaurants and other food vending establishments where the patron is expected to deposit his/her waste paper products in a trash receptacle upon leaving the establishment.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Many fast food restaurants and cafeterias typically provide a refuse or waste container near the exit doors of the establishment and at other convenient locations so that at the conclusion of a meal, the patron's tray containing napkins, paper cups, food wrappers, placemats, etc. can be dumped into the waste receptacle by the patron rather than by restaurant staff. However, it is up to the restaurant staff to periodically empty these trash receptacles, bag the waste materials in polyethylene bags, and then deposit the bagged waste in a dumpster for pick-up by a refuse removal service.
Because the waste material is merely allowed to fall by gravity in the conventional waste receptacles currently used, it is not particularly dense and frequent emptying of the waste receptacles by staff personnel is required to prevent overflow and attendant lack of patron compliance. The need to frequently empty the refuse receptacles can be a significant cost item for a restaurant operation. Moreover, since refuse haulers generally charge by volume and not by weight, bagged, loosely-compacted refuse takes up an inordinate amount of space in a dumpster and also adds to the cost of refuse disposal.
Trash compactors intended to meet these needs have been designed to effectively reduce this problem. One such compactor is fully described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,928 which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, those trash compactor designs typically utilize an internal support structure formed from steel I-beams or rectangular tubing that is independent of sheet metal or plastic panels comprising the outer housing or “skins” of the trash compactor. It would be beneficial if such an independent supporting structure were not necessary to provide the rigidity and strength for the hydraulic ram based compaction processes utilized in the prior art trash compactor designs. Eliminating support structures within the compactor would be greatly beneficial in terms of space savings and manufacturing costs.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved and more efficiently designed refuse compactor capable of compressing fast food restaurant trash so that less frequent emptying is required and a greater mass of waste material can be contained in a smaller volume. The present invention provides a unique solution to this problem.